Smartphones

I'm a few months away from my next phone purchase so I began the search. So far I prefer the more innovative android line. Samsung has led the pack there. The new Samsung Galaxy S IV will be announced Mar 14. Sounds like it will monitor eye movements for screen control. In addition Samsung promises new hardware features.

I might buy the next Nexus phone which is Google's developer smartphone line. It tends to be unlocked and more easily modified. It probably won't be released until late summer. No word on features.

Some speculation that Google will break away from the Android line. Motorola Wireless has been fairly quiet since Google's acquisition. Google's new X phone could come from Motorola. They say it will have revolutionary new software and perhaps a flexible screen. Reportedly the software has been in development for years and nothing like it has been seen in the Android or iPhone. Info will be leaked in a smartphone conference in May.

I went from Galaxy to I-Phone 5. I like not having repeated updates to fix updates...

I went from all kinds of android to the iphone 5 recently.

The iphone 5 is rock solid, I like it way better. Everything just works and works good and the phone is very snappy.

I'll probably never go back to andriod

I have an android right now and I'm not too happy with it. I'll be getting an iPad in the near future so my next phone will likely be an iPhone just to be compatible.

Windows phone to an I-phone, and verry happy.

No doubt Android has issues. Mine is fast but the battery life is very poor. But I really like the OS, it's light years ahead of Apple's and it's less expensive. Most believe Android will continue to take Apple market share.

We bought an ipad for my 10 year old daughter and its the most frustrating gadget I've ever used. At times it's non-intuitive, there's no 'off' button since Job's felt it was too depressing. It's never clear how to back out of an app. Sometimes it's the 'home' button and other times there's no clear button to use. Typing is onerous compared to Android - too many basic keys missing: no 'del' key, no arrow keys! It's as if someone on acid designed the thing to watch hallucination trails.

We've had quality issues with it as well. Lots of software bugs. The software updates are rare, but even then the update didn't work, we had to wait in line at the Apple store and even they couldn't fix it. Apple was doing well but clearly has lost ground.

I've come to the conclusion that Apple is style over function. Their slow response to 4G demand was amazing. They should've offered 4G a year earlier with the 4S. I was amazed how well the Apple flock took that debacle. The old gray mare ain't what she use to be.

Our daughter bought a galaxy off ebay after she dropped her phone in the water. After a week in rice it turned back on so she didn't want the galaxy. Went to have it activated the other day and turns out it is a dual sim card phone of which they had never seen and were having issues configuring the internet settings. Didn't have time to wait so didn't get it activated yet.
IIRC it's a Samsung Galaxy Model I9220.

I'm using the Android 3 and this summer I will be able to upgrade. I need a real keyboard and the iphone doesn't offer that. My son has the Android 4 with 4G and his is night and day more advanced than mine. Battery life could be better. Last week I sat at the train station for 1 hour waiting for my son and surfed this forum the whole time. When I'm near strong service it works good enough for me.

I've never had an Apple device (other than an old iPod video) and I don't intend to start now.

I've got a HTC Android phone running a cooked ICS rom, and I love it. I've also still got an unlimited data package, which I use to tether my laptop, regularly. With 4G (and a great signal where I live and work) it's every bit as fast as my cable internet. I'm dreading the day Verizon tries to boot me off the unlimited plan, and they'll find a way. If you look at the "evolution" of smartphones and data plans, it's all a scheme to make the providers even more profits. Eliminating memory card slots, limiting the capacity of on-board memory, touting the "convenience" and "security" of cloud-based storage, pimping streaming services, and creating tiered plans with outrageous data rates... It's a ploy to screw the customer.

GMC D-Max wrote:

It's a ploy to screw the customer.

They'd never do THAT

GMC D-Max wrote:

I've never had an Apple device (other than an old iPod video) and I don't intend to start now.

I've got a HTC Android phone running a cooked ICS rom, and I love it. I've also still got an unlimited data package, which I use to tether my laptop, regularly. With 4G (and a great signal where I live and work) it's every bit as fast as my cable internet. I'm dreading the day Verizon tries to boot me off the unlimited plan, and they'll find a way. If you look at the "evolution" of smartphones and data plans, it's all a scheme to make the providers even more profits. Eliminating memory card slots, limiting the capacity of on-board memory, touting the "convenience" and "security" of cloud-based storage, pimping streaming services, and creating tiered plans with outrageous data rates... It's a ploy to screw the customer.

Any change you make to your plan now will do away with that unlimited data plan. Also the rebate on a new phone is no longer offered if you have the unlimited plan. You have to pay full price for the phone, or change plans. It's only a matter of time before they make the few of us that still have that change over to the data cap that will make more money for them. They are working hard to make it not worth it to keep that plan. But before too long they will just do away with it. If it weren't for the coverage I get with Verizon I would have dropped them long ago.

Scout wrote:

Any change you make to your plan now will do away with that unlimited data plan. Also the rebate on a new phone is no longer offered if you have the unlimited plan. You have to pay full price for the phone, or change plans. It's only a matter of time before they make the few of us that still have that change over to the data cap that will make more money for them. They are working hard to make it not worth it to keep that plan. But before too long they will just do away with it. If it weren't for the coverage I get with Verizon I would have dropped them long ago.

Yeah... I'm well aware of this. Unfortunately, I never got my wife to switch to a smartphone, with an unlimited plan. Now, I won't change a thing on our plan until Big Red yanks my unlimited data. If a new smartphone comes out that I like, I'll certainly pay full price (best price I can find, anyway) for it, as I won't get roped into any more 2-year contracts. But, being free of a contract may be what gives Verizon the leeway to yank my unlimited data, at any time.

I wish I could find a pre-paid or pay-as-you-go phone plan that had unlimited 4g data, but I have yet to find one. There's very few that even offer 4g data, at all.

Ditto on Verizon's coverage... I have a serious love/hate relationship with them.

Of course part of the problem is cellphone carrier's trying to subsidize exorbitant smartphone prices and profits. It's unsustainable, especially when carriers are investing huge money for infrastructure. A bit more competition should bring that in line and free-up the carrier data plans. I too hope second tier providers become more mainstream with 4G and real unlimited data plans.

Diseasel wrote:

Of course part of the problem is cellphone carrier's trying to subsidize exorbitant smartphone prices and profits. It's unsustainable, especially when carriers are investing huge money for infrastructure. A bit more competition should bring that in line and free-up the carrier data plans. I too hope second tier providers become more mainstream with 4G and real unlimited data plans.

That's been discussed at length on various developer sites, and it's generally a misconception that the carrier is taking a beating on devices. Your "subsidized" price is either very close to what the carrier's cost is, or just slightly under cost. The carriers aren't losing money on subsidized phones... though they'd like you to think they are. Monthly access fees are where their bread-and-butter is.

Look at it this way: If you could buy the phone at what it's really worth, and it was only slightly more than the subsidized price, then how could the carriers con people into signing up for 1yr. and 2yr. contracts to get that "attractive" pricing? Bottom line is, they wouldn't. It's akin to these "liquidation" sales, where they advertise "70-80% off regular prices"... Truth is, they've jacked the "regular price" to at or over MSRP (which rarely anybody ever pays for something), only to bring it back down from that, to make you think you're getting a really good deal! It's all smoke-and-mirrors.

It will only get worse and more expensive...remember, it's the same bastards that convinced us that we needed something we all lived our entire lives without just fine to begin with.

Public Service isn't their goal, your wallet and its entire contents are and always will be.

GMC D-Max wrote:

That's been discussed at length on various developer sites, and it's generally a misconception that the carrier is taking a beating on devices. Your "subsidized" price is either very close to what the carrier's cost is, or just slightly under cost. The carriers aren't losing money on subsidized phones... though they'd like you to think they are. Monthly access fees are where their bread-and-butter is.

Look at it this way: If you could buy the phone at what it's really worth, and it was only slightly more than the subsidized price, then how could the carriers con people into signing up for 1yr. and 2yr. contracts to get that "attractive" pricing? Bottom line is, they wouldn't. It's akin to these "liquidation" sales, where they advertise "70-80% off regular prices"... Truth is, they've jacked the "regular price" to at or over MSRP (which rarely anybody ever pays for something), only to bring it back down from that, to make you think you're getting a really good deal! It's all smoke-and-mirrors.

Yes, there's a lot of truth to that however you can look at a carrier's profits/losses before and after adding an iphone to the lineup and profit declines are dramatic. That's to say it takes time for a carrier to recoup those upfront losses. Initially Apple had lots of negotiating power to twist a carrier's arm but it's changing.

No doubt they've jacked MSRP up. But still the carriers pay about $450 to Apple for each iphone and sell them under contract for $299 or so. It makes no sense given the quantity of phones a carrier purchases.

The real business model should be phone manufacturer's adding new features so consumers want to buy the latest and greatest. There's nothing worse than being stuck with a phone you don't like just to live-out terms of a contract. As it is, many carriers stop supporting software upgrades after about 1 year's time anyway. And many times phones are specific to a carrier's network so you're locked in regardless.

And just like any other monthly service, carriers can entice 1 or 2 year contracts by offering lower monthly fees. And longer term contracts should have an advantage of keeping the fees the same during the contract. In other words, no price increase.

GMC D-Max wrote:

Scout wrote:

Any change you make to your plan now will do away with that unlimited data plan. Also the rebate on a new phone is no longer offered if you have the unlimited plan. You have to pay full price for the phone, or change plans. It's only a matter of time before they make the few of us that still have that change over to the data cap that will make more money for them. They are working hard to make it not worth it to keep that plan. But before too long they will just do away with it. If it weren't for the coverage I get with Verizon I would have dropped them long ago.

Yeah... I'm well aware of this. Unfortunately, I never got my wife to switch to a smartphone, with an unlimited plan. Now, I won't change a thing on our plan until Big Red yanks my unlimited data. If a new smartphone comes out that I like, I'll certainly pay full price (best price I can find, anyway) for it, as I won't get roped into any more 2-year contracts. But, being free of a contract may be what gives Verizon the leeway to yank my unlimited data, at any time.

I wish I could find a pre-paid or pay-as-you-go phone plan that had unlimited 4g data, but I have yet to find one. There's very few that even offer 4g data, at all.

Ditto on Verizon's coverage... I have a serious love/hate relationship with them.

If you have t-mobile in your area, they have a month to month of unlimited everything for like 50 dollars/month.

erude685 wrote:

If you have t-mobile in your area, they have a month to month of unlimited everything for like 50 dollars/month.

Yeeeahhhh.... NO.

A buddy has T-Mobile, and he "T-Mobiles" me (drops call) all the time, when he's out running around making sales calls. And that's running up and down the I-5 corridor. Their coverage SUCKS.

We originally had Alltel then Verizon bought them up and service degraded. Recently we switched to AT&T and have had good results.

It will be a LOOOONNNGGG time before we consider Verizon again.

I've got a Verizon Motorola Droid3 for work and an AT&T HP Veer (worlds smallest smartphone) for personal. No issues with the Droid other then random reboots every once in a while. I have two HP Touchpad tablets that I recently found out I could install Android on. So I installed it on them and they run aswesome. Now I can get all the apps that are not available in WebOS from HP.

I can say that the new Sprint LTE network freaking ROCKS.

15-25 down 3-10 up with no drop outs. I turn off my wifi at work this thing is so fast.

rockin the spotify radio app on full 320 bit stream, audio quality is awsome over BT in the truck.

My Veer is ATT 4G but never really tested it because Speedtest.net doesnt have a WebOS app and the website is a bit flakey on it. Also I have the low MB pkg so I dont use it that often over the air, only wifi. My Verizon work phone is still 3G.

I don't think that was actually Einstein who said that

I'll have to check out which carriers offer true unlimited data plans and see if the coverage and price are worth it. My kids download a lot of netflix and youtube videos but we're usually home wifi connected.

We'll have to wait for the techies to review the new S4. So far it looks like they increased the DPIs and screen size, improved processor and clock speed, 13 megapixel camera, and added new software features. There's a smartphone comparison table at the bottom of this link:

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/samsung-galaxy-s4-vs-iphone-5-and-rest-of-the-competition-342672

Diseasel wrote:

We'll have to wait for the techies to review the new S4. So far it looks like they increased the DPIs and screen size, improved processor and clock speed, 13 megapixel camera, and added new software features. There's a smartphone comparison table at the bottom of this link:

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/samsung-galaxy-s4-vs-iphone-5-and-rest-of-the-competition-342672

Yeah, but did they improve the reception?

The current crop of Samsung Galaxy phones (from the Nexus, on) are notorious for having horrible reception, resulting in less than stellar data speeds, and dropped calls (compared to other phones).

My wife has a G-Nex for her work phone, and it routinely gets about half the signal my HTC smartphone has, both phones on Verizon. I never have problems with data connections, and hers will drop signal at the most inopportune times, like when she's using the navigation to find her way around, throughout her work day.

If I was buying a new phone, I would hold off..

The way Apple does things, a new iPhone 5S is probably right around the corner..

I don't partake in the Apple hype Much cheaper phones that do much better things.

Plus Apple has been slow to respond to smartphone market demand regarding data speed, screen size, thin packaging, and iOS is a few generations behind.

Gnex radios were the weak point. Lots of dropped calls initially. They updated radio sw once but that can only do so much.